Emma in front of our canoe.
There were 13 canoes filled with gear and 28 people when we departed from the Rim Rock Ranch launch in Fruita, Colorado. There was a standing rule that children under 12 had to ride in the middle of the canoe. But Emma would have none of that. She wanted to be up front and paddling (at least some of the time). I had discussions with the folks at Centennial Canoe Outfitters, telling them about our wishes. They had finally agreed that it would be OK. But when we were loading up, Alan Ward, our trip leader asked me how old Emma was, then said she would have to ride in the middle. I explained that we had already arranged for her to paddle and he thought maybe she'd trade off with other kids sometimes. Thought we were off to a bad start.
But, after our breakfast of fruit, bagels, juice, etc, it turned out that we were going to have a canoe to ourselves and that Emma would pilot the bow. Yeah!
Soon we had slipped into the slow moving muddy waters of the Colorado. Even though it was easy going, most of us were nervous, not being used to the wiggly canoes.
The first miles were along the highway; not exactly the wilderness experience we had anticipated. But it wasn't too long before we entered Horsethief Canyon.
Our route: Fruita to Westwater. We camped midway (marked
with larger "tent") at Mee Canyon.
Soon we stopped for a little snack and a chance to get out and explore a bit. Almost immediately I spotted and caught a little toad. Emma and I explored a shallow side pond and discovered tadpoles, minnows scurrying about, and lots of tracks (raccoons, herons).
Colorado River in the Ruby Canyon
We expected to be off the river between 2-4pm, since in the late afternoon the wind picks up and makes canoeing a lot more work. After three pullovers, we finally found a great camping spot near Mee Canyon.
These are photos taken from a passing train of Mee Canyon, our campsite.
Across the river was a railroad track that ran beneath towering red sandstone cliffs. When the train passed, it would blow it's whistle and we'd all wave. On our side of the river things were open, with a slight slope going up toward a large natural amphitheater. Our trip leaders setup the kitchen under the one cottonwood, our only shade. They pulled up two canoes and used them as serving tables. The rest of us claimed camp spots and setup our tents before the "Hors d' oeuvers" were served at ~5pm. We were astonished to be served iced shrimp cocktail, cheese & krab, and wine. I can't tell you how delicious it was after paddling for hours.
The Kitchen at Mee Canyon
Around 7pm we were served a fine dinner of chicken, ribs, and rice. Of course the adults enjoyed more wine. Dessert promised peach and apple pie with whip cream, but the drizzle and long day of exercise drove us into our tents for the night. "Paddling Paul" was snoring before anyone else could lie down. He had a little more excitement than the rest of us that day. His canoe, including his son Raging Gage and nephew Chess had rammed a rock and capsized. All the gear was recovered, everyone was fine, but I'm sure that experience added to his fatigue.
Emma & I fell asleep to the splatting sounds of rain drops and sawing
snores of Paul. I tried to keep the tent screens open just enough
to get a breeze, but left them open a bit too much and we took on a little
water.
The plan was that the group would be hiking up to the natural amphitheater after pie, er breakfast. Emma didn't want to go with the group so she and I took off on our own. We had spotted "nature's table", a cool looking rock formation not far from camp and we set off to get a closer look. We had a great time looking around. Spotted a "mud snake". Went up over the hill to see what we could see and came to a cliff overlooking the river. Great view. We looked under rocks, trying to find whatever creatures we might find. We had found a deer jaw bone under one of the rock overhangs. Some little critter had dragged it in there to gnaw on it. We decided to head up to the amphitheater, up the dry gulch.
Emma on the "Steps"
What a neat place. Lots of lizards scurrying about. You think we could catch one? No way. At one spot, I was about to comment on the age of an old knarled tree, when we spotted the biggest lizard yet. And there was a variety of lizards. I think the big one was a western swift, a mostly grey, kinda spiky thing. Others were striped with green/blue tails. One Emma spotted changed colors as it scampered away.
Emma at the Amphitheater
We finally made it to the natural amphitheater. Great big overhang, I mean BIG. Neat red stains running down the walls. And superb echo. While there we noticed the group approaching and they hadn't seen us. So we decided to greet them with some echo talk. Emma said something like, "Welcome Centennial Canoe Outfitters. Relax and enjoy the show. It will begin in a few moments." Then I bellowed a Wizard of Oz greeting, "Come FORward... pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." Hee hee, we had a good laugh.
We left the group and headed back down to camp. It was getting rather hot by then and we decided to cool off in the river. We donned our life jackets and walked right in. We struggled up river a bit then just layed back and let the current carry us. Oh man that felt refreshing. Before ya know it we had lots of company. After a bit I started dragging Emma upstream, then another young one would latch on to her, then someone onto that one - until I was dragging a line of five kids behind me! We had a blast.
Soon it was time for a nummy lunch. Everyone gathered under the cottonwood to be in the shade. Most of us had brought lawn chairs which made things mighty comfortable. After eating and the exercise, Emma and I decided to get our sleeping pads and lie down in the shade. That started the rest of the group doing the same. Soon it was like nappy time in kinder garden with everyone taking midday snoozes.
More shrimp cocktail and snacks as the sun went behind the sandstone cliffs. No rain that night. Over dinner I chatted with lots of folks. Our group was diverse - kids from about 8 years old, to one older women who looked to be, oh 100 years old! By this time the kids were playing cards and having fun. And it seems that Raging Gage had his eyes on Eagle Eyes. Emma could tell Gage liked her. Later that evening she found a note in our tent with Gage's phone number and request for hers. Emma's got a boyfriend!
Around the "campfire" (a lit candle), Rudebaga Robert, the museum naturalist gave talks on dinosaurs and later, as the stars came out, talked about the constellations we could see. It clouded up a bit but didn't rain at all.
When everyone else had gone to bed, I was sitting outside, trying to comb a major snarl out of my hair. A full moon was coming up behind the amphitheater ridge and it lit up the cliffs across the river before it became visible. Oh, if I could have one picture of the peaceful serenity of that place, that would have been it. But it's hard to capture moonlit scenes in a photo, so that picture can only reside in my memory.
I had found some information and a map of our river trip. The info said something about "Black Rocks" being sorta treacherous. The water there was an incredible 85 feet deep and could have standing waves and "suck holes". SUCK HOLES! Yikes!!! I was worried.
More Mee Canyon
There were some beautiful formations, some looking like chess pieces, on the walls around us. We were on the river, on time. Apparently a first for this kind of trip. After a ways we pulled off the river and were given instructions on how to get passed the standing wave hazard. There were a series of big waves, rippling high over some river bottom rocks. Emma and I got through just fine. We had finally started to be able to paddle together and keep control when things got rough. One canoe made it through but had filled to the top with water. We all helped bail and get them going again.
Then came "Black Rocks". This spot was different than the rest of the river because the rocks were no longer soft sandstone, but highly resistant metamorphic rock. This was the place of SUCK HOLES!
Our guide had a serious talk with us. Emma and I would be the third canoe to go through. We were to watch carefully and follow in the same line. I now had confidence in Emma's ability as bow paddler. But apparently I was preoccupied with something because when we approached the big rock we had to maneuver around, I realized I had not seen which side our lead canoe had taken! AHHhhh! I asked Emma which way they had gone and she said "Right". I said, "You sure." She said, "Right". Right it was. And we dug in. We kept control and went right around. Woo hoo! Another canoe smacked right into the rock, sideways. That's NOT a great way to hit a rock in a canoe. Luckily they spun around and came through just fine.
Now get this - we all pulled over and got out of our canoes. Rutabaga Robert gave us a talk on the geology of the Black Rocks then... we all walked up river and jumped in, floating through this fastest part of the river. Maybe that was supposed to be a confidence builder or something, that we could have fallen out of our canoes and made it through OK. Not really sure. But it was a thrilling float. Poor Robert was having a hard time getting back to shore, flailing and floating downstream. Someone went after him and got him to shore.
Past Black Rocks - Easy Going Again
The river opened up again past the constricted Black Rocks area. We all relaxed knowing the rest of the trip would be easy going. We made a stop to see some 1000 year old petroglyphs, hiking up McDonald canyon. There Emma took some photos of new bo' Gage.
Gage and his cousin Chess took to the cliff side and posed for the above photo. Some tried to climb up to get a better look at the petroglyphs, then had a heck of a time getting back down in one piece.
Back on the river for a while, then we stopped for a nice lunch. Along the way that afternoon we saw a bald eagle perched high on the rocks. We saw a family of wild turkeys walking along the shoreline, a young one in the rear. We saw a coyote climbing the river's edge, to the plateau above. There were turkey vultures overhead too, soaring on the updrafts, never beating a wing, just sailing the wind.
We knew our trip was nearly over. We were tired but refreshed. And so we floated with the current, just gave up paddling for a while. That's the nice thing about canoeing, just going with the river.
